Internal combustion engines are commonly used to generate energy for industrial activities. Exposure to the exhaust gases from such engines poses health issues for workers and maintenance issues for other equipment in the vicinity. For instance, offshore structures such as oil well drilling rigs or production platforms seem particularly susceptible to contamination of working and other inhabited areas with internal combustion exhaust gases. Therefore, it would be advantageous if such exhaust gases can be disposed to minimize contamination of inhabited areas.
Conventional efforts to prevent exhaust gases from contaminating inhabited areas include an engine exhaust system 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1. Such systems comprise a housing 14 adapted to encase a terminal portion of an engine exhaust pipe 12. An exit portion 18 and an ambient air pressurization system 40 are coupled to the housing 14 at the same time. The system is arranged such that-ambient air injected by the air pressurization system 40 into the housing 14 entrains the exhaust gases discharged from the exhaust pipe to form a combination of fluid. The combined fluid exits the housing 14 through the exit portion 18. However, the introduction of ambient air in such an enclosed arrangement causes disruption to the hot engine gas flow and inevitably creates back-pressure against the internal combustion engine. It follows that back pressure against the internal combustion engine increases with discharge velocity at the exit portion 18.
Such an enclosed arrangement 10 unnecessarily exposes system equipment and engine components to the heat from the internal combustion engine. This increases wear and tear in the equipment and engine components and may lead to higher repair and maintenance cost in the long run.
Further, the engine exhaust pipe 12 and the air pressurization system 40 in the enclosed system 10 are in fluid communication. This encourages the flow of exhaust gas into the air pressurization system 40 when the air pressurization system 40 is not in operation. To keep the engine exhaust system 10 at a sustainable working condition, additional equipment such as non-return dampers and heat resistant components will be required, thus further increasing the working capital and maintenance cost of the engine exhaust system 10.
Therefore, there is a need to develop an invention that addresses the above mentioned short-comings of the conventional engine exhaust system 10.